In Review: The House drug pricing bill was released on Monday, with the ban on spread pricing being the top priority. We are also working to strike or mitigate other provisions, such as point-of-sale rebates and MAC appeals. The bill was heard in the House on Wednesday, where they reviewed 43 filed amendments. PCMA was able to withdraw the problematic amendments, such as any willing specialty pharmacy and non-medical switching. Now, the bill heads to a conference committee where the House and Senate will reconcile the differences in the two versions. Ban on spread, point-of-sale rebates, and the MAC appeals language was not in the Senate version. PCMA submitted redlines of the House and Senate bills to the conferees. PCMA’s coalition, Save Our Benefits Massachusetts, also sent a letter outlining their concerns about the spread pricing ban and point-of-sale rebates. PCMA will continue to work with conferees as the session is slated to adjourn on Wednesday, July 31.

If you have any questions, please contact Sam Hallemeier at shallemeier@pcmanet.org.